Our Deliverance
by Efficient Vixen
Summary: Post Breaking Dawn canon compliant Jake/Ness story.  Chronicles the relationship between Jake and Ness from immediately after the Volturi leave until many years into their marriage.  Please read warning in prologue. M for lemons and some dark themes.
1. Prologue: Sixty Seconds

Full Summary: We begin where Stephenie ended, following the Cullens, the wolves and all our favorite characters as they continue on after the Volturi left. At the center of our story we have Renesmee's journey through childhood into adolescence and adulthood. Jacob and his pack have chosen to follow the Cullens as they journey from place to place. Building upon the canon universe Stephenie built we'll see darkness, light, danger, romance and a dash of spice.

**Warning: This story will contain rape – it will not happen until the story is substantially established (20+ chapters from the start). It won't be described in detail and the trauma will be tastefully represented. I will not use it as titillation either. If rape is a trigger for you I wanted you to be aware now so you wouldn't get attached to the story and then feel traumatized when it happened. It happens in life and I wanted to deal with how a couple heals from such a horrible and traumatic event. Please see the RAINN website for resources and ideas to end sexual assault.**

AN: Special thanks to Project Team Beta and especially Sweetishbubble and MojoPen. Also a big thank you to Pemberly Rose for her constant support and assistance.

Disclaimer: Twilight and all its characters are the property of the talented Stephenie Meyer – I am just playing in her world for a while. Song lyrics are the property of their respective owners.

_We may be looking for our deliverance but it has already been sent_

_It's in the night fall when the light falls_

_And what you've seen isn't there anymore_

_It's in our blind trust that love will find us_

_~Our Deliverance,_ Indigo Girls

**Prologue: Sixty Seconds**

RPOV

I had sixty seconds to say goodbye to my husband. I had to remain calm. I had to push away the panic threatening to crush me as I looked at his mutilated chest. He was bleeding from his mouth and his entire torso. He could barely breath, and I could tell he would lose consciousness soon. I prayed I could do enough in sixty seconds to save us both.

I would have time to panic later, now I needed to be strong.

_One... Two..._

I ran to him. I rolled him on his side and pushed him against the couch so he wouldn't drown in his own blood. I prayed that Seth and Embry could save him, but there were so many bullet wounds, and I didn't know how long it would be until they returned home.

_Six... Seven..._

I spoke in Quileute, "Stay with me, Jake! I love you! You're the only one who will be able to save me and the baby."

He started to shake.

I projected love, calm, and strength into him. "Calm Down! I need you to focus and concentrate, Jake! I need you to remember the message I am sending you and pass it to my father. You will live. I will live. Our baby will live. _ I will protect our baby no matter what!_ We will be together again soon."

_Twenty-seven... Twenty-eight... _

I sent him the message and kept whispering words of love in Quileute. I hoped I was sending enough information for my father to find me.

_They are from Iran, probably Gilan province. They have been speaking Persian, and I have heard a few of them speaking in Gilaki. I heard the names Poordavood, Samii, Qazi, and Ari. I love you all. I will look for a way to escape, but the health of our baby is the most important thing to me. _

_Jake, my heart, my soul, my other half, my everything, hold on until the guys get back. I love you. I will be waiting for you to find us. Eternity is nothing without you. I love you with all my heart, all my soul, and everything in between!_

He tried to speak but was only able to gasp and spew blood forth.

_Forty-one... Forty-two..._

_Don't speak. I know how much you love me and how much I mean to you. Just hang on._

I tore the locket my parents had given me for my first Christmas off my neck. I pressed it into his hand and spoke in Quileute, "I want that back!"

In my last fifteen seconds, I kissed him and poured every ounce of adoration, love, and devotion we shared for the last seventeen years into the kiss. I went through highlights of our memories: our apartment in Boston, our college graduations, and our volunteer work in Central America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle-East. I then recalled the moment I realized I loved him romantically, the day he finally caved and told me of the imprint, our wedding, our wedding night, and our honeymoon. I reminded him of the undying devotion I saw in his eyes every day, the strength he gave me, and finally the trust and love we had for each other.

When I was yanked away from him,I could taste his blood on my lips and see him struggling to breath.

I screamed, "I love you! I will fight to return to you!"

The men duct-taped my mouth closed and covered my face with a hood as they dragged me out of our home.

Everything went black.

* * *

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	2. Making Amends and Plans

**Warning: This story will contain rape – it will not happen until the story is substantially established (20+ chapters from the start). It won't be described in detail and the trauma will be tastefully represented. I will not use it as titillation either. If rape is a trigger for you I wanted you to be aware now so you wouldn't get attached to the story and then feel traumatized when it happened. It happens in life and I wanted to deal with how a couple heals from such a horrible and traumatic event. Please see the RAINN website for resources and ideas to end sexual assault.**

AN: The action won't begin until we are far into the story. The prologue was just a taste. I'd like to thank Project Team Beta and especially, onlybythenight1 and wandb for their input on this chapter. Thanks to Pemberly Rose for being the canon queen and vampiiexplainsnoreasoning for being my first run beta. Sorry this chapter took so long, but I wanted to ensure it was high quality before I published it. Find me on twitter Efficient_Vixen.

Disclaimer: SM owns all recognizable characters. Song lyrics are property of their respective owners.

Making Amends and Plans

_You're on the road _

_But you've got no destination_

U2, _Beautiful Day_

JPOV

I arrived at the cottage early in the morning. Edward greeted me at the door. "Good morning, Jacob."

_She up yet? _I asked in my thoughts.

"Bella's getting her dressed now. We need to head over to the main house for a family meeting; please join us."

_Okay. Is everything alright?_

"No need for concern; we want to debrief after yesterday's events and discuss our future plans."

Just then the light of my life came running in and leapt into my arms. "Jake, good morning!" she yelled and then after she could reach my face, projected her thoughts. _Can we hang out with Auntie Alice and Uncle Jazzy today? _

"Sure, sure. We're heading up there now."

We all headed over to the house, while Nessie began projecting images of her family to me. She was so happy Alice and Jasper were home. She was looking forward to multiple games of dress up with the pixie.

~*O*~

Nessie made a beeline straight into Alice's arms when we got there – she had missed them so much. We all took seats at the dining room table. Carlisle was seated at the head of the table with Esme to his right and began speaking, "Jacob, welcome to your first family meeting with the Cullens. Please recognize that we consider you family and hope that you'll feel free to discuss your points of view at this meeting. We have several things to talk about today; some are appropriate for little ears and during others, Edward will step outside with Nessie since he can hear what's going on regardless. If Edward has anything to add he'll do it when he returns. Everyone will have a chance to make their opinions known on each issue. Please remain respectful of all opinions and remember that at this table we're all equals.

"I'd like to start with a sincere thanks to you, Jacob, and both packs. We would appreciate if you'd pass on our thanks to your brothers and sister. There are some things I would like to solicit opinions on regarding the treaty and the state of the packs." I was somewhat surprised by this since I thought we had already resolved any issues with the treaty while Bella was transforming. "Jacob, I understand that your people are proud and self sufficient, but I'd like to repair a small portion of the damage that our presence may have caused. I'd like you to be honest with us as to whether or not our suggestions would be taken as a thanks or as an insult. We understand that most of the boys were in high school when they phased and, as a result, most of you have dropped out with no intention to return. We also understand that phasing has caused other major disruptions in the lives of most of the pack, and it is our presence that caused the phasing."

_Oh great! They've discussed that me and most of my pack are drop outs. I can only imagine what the multiple advanced degree family thinks of us now. Everyone at this table except Bella, Nessie, and me has at least earned a Doctor's degree once. Could I ever be good enough for Nessie?_

Edward gave me a weird look and then opened his mouth to say something.

_Get out of my head! Don't you dare respond to my personal thoughts in a family meeting!_

"Edward and I would like to meet with the Elders if you think they would be amenable to a financial contribution to the tribe. We understand that since the pack must keep the wolves a secret that they can't be compensated by the tribe for the work they do. We would like to offer some opportunities for the wolf pack to sustain itself. There are multiple ways we could assist, and we would like to do something, so please give us your opinions on each possibility and we'll discuss any feasible concepts with the Elders.

"Option one - we provide a large donation to the tribe, which is ear marked for the support of the pack. We can create some legal documents to make sure it is only used for the pack, while at the same time keeping the pack secret. The initial donation would sit in a trust and only the interest would be used to support the pack."

I thought about this option and couldn't see any way that the pack would accept such a gift. Doc was right: my people were proud and wouldn't accept random handouts from anyone. I held my tongue to hear the other options.

"Option two - we provide an entirely anonymous donation to the tribe to use for improvements to the school or community center. Now, this wouldn't provide any direct benefit to the pack, but it would benefit all Quileute families. If we go with this option, I would ask you to please keep this a secret."

I considered this, but again was hesitant.

"Option three - we invest in a business or lend money to a pack member willing to own a business, which will employ pack members and provide flexible schedules and pay. After the business begins to turn a profit we would create a payment plan to return our initial investment with some minimal interest. If the pack is uncomfortable touching our money, then it is also possible we could cosign a loan from a bank."

_The pack may be willing to consider that option. _

"Option four - Alice provides financial planning advice to members of the pack at their discretion. This is the last option and may be the most comfortable for the pack. Alice would invest only the money which pack members provide. Each pack member would have to provide their own funds to invest. Alice has never lost a dime in the markets."

I began to wonder if her blind spots would cause her to lose our money. I wouldn't want to suggest something to my brothers only to find out she couldn't actually help us since we were wolves.

"So Jacob, do you think any of these options are worth our meeting with either the pack or the Elders?"

After thing about it for several seconds, I responded, "Doc, I don't know. It all sounds very generous, but I have to say there may be too much animosity for us to consider any of these possibilities. Honestly, the first two options wouldn't even be considered. Like you said, we're a proud people and the idea of accepting a gift from our ancient enemies would be a little too much like blood money. I know it isn't like that for you guys, but it would be for the pack. Options three and four could be possibilities, but it would really be up to the pack and each person would have to make their own decision. Would Alice even be able to invest for us since we're blind spots?"

Alice responded, "Jacob, the stock market is sort of like the weather. I can predict when it is going to rain even in La Push because the wolves don't cause changes in the weather. I would be watching the markets as a whole, rather than the money being invested by the wolves. The money would be such a small amount compared to the value of the entire market that it couldn't impact market trends."

_I guess that makes sense. _I didn't really get how the stock market worked, so I would just have to trust Alice on this subject.

"Jake, why don't you bring these ideas to the packs and let us know if there is any interest. We wouldn't want to pressure any one at all. We're just trying to make up for some of the problems we have caused," Edward explained.

I nodded my agreement. _It's not like I can keep something like this from them anyway, pack mind and all._

Carlisle began again, "Back to the issue of education, our family feels strongly that education is important. We would like you and the other wolves to be able to complete high school, but again it isn't our place to pressure any of you. If you, or any other member of the pack, would like us to tutor or home school you, we are all qualified and have the necessary education. We would like you all to either be able to get diplomas or GEDs."

I took a deep breath. "Doc, I think that would be a nice idea, but again, it's a personal decision and I'd have to discuss it with the pack. I should probably take you guys up on the offer for myself."

Carlisle smiled.

"Jake, I understand you'd like to take Nessie to La Push sometime soon," Edward stated, raising an eyebrow as if challenging my ability to take care of his little girl.

I saw Nessie's face break into a big grin just before she hopped off Alice and jumped into my arms to show me all her ideas of what we could do in La Push.

"We want to be sure that her visiting won't impact the treaty, since we didn't resolve that issue in our conversation with Sam," Edward explained.

"Of course it won't have an impact. Nessie can come and go as she pleases. However, no other Cullens can, unless there's an emergency," I explained to everyone. Then added in my thoughts, _I resolved this with Sam and the Elders months ago. _

"Does anyone have anything to add regarding those issues?" Carlisle asked.

The room remained silent.

He began again, "Now we need to discuss our plans for the future. Since I'm pretending to be 34, I may be able to pass off my age for a while longer, but if anyone begins to question it, we need to know what our plan will be. Let's go around the room and get opinions on what we should do in that case."

He looked to Esme to begin. "Forks has a special place in my heart; it was here I gained a daughter and granddaughter here and would love to stay as long as possible. However, I'm aware that you need to work to find satisfaction in life. I worry about us just shutting ourselves in if we stay here, since we could live a totally reclusive life if you didn't need to work as a doctor. I think I should begin looking for a new place for us to live where the children can begin high school again and then stay through college. You could start over as a twenty-five year old fresh out of residency, and we could stay for eight to ten years in one place." Esme then looked sympathetically toward me then back to Carlisle. "I'm concerned that we need to move far away from the Pacific Northwest since you are fairly well known in the medical community. Even if we change our names, I worry that this area is too small."

I noticed the whole family snatching glances toward Bella and me. I started fidgeting, uncomfortable with all the attention.

Carlisle then directed his gaze to Emmett, who broke the awkward silence with his booming voice. "Damn, I hate starting out as a young teenager, but I know it's necessary. Make _sure_ there are bears wherever we end up."

Rosalie sighed then cut in, "I couldn't care less about the menu, but I agree with Esme. I would love to stay here for as long as possible, though."

I was next. "I have responsibilities here that I need time to take care of, and I prefer to stay here. My family is here, and there are fifteen other wolves who patrol these woods to keep us safe." _Us meaning Nessie._ "Wherever you go, I go. If you'll have me, that is."

Everyone except Rose, who let out a little sigh and scowled at me, nodded and smiled.

I ignored her and continued, "I also believe that Leah will follow me wherever I go, so she can remain in my pack. Quil would rejoin Sam's pack to remain with Claire. Seth and Embry may want to stay or go."

Jasper then began, "Of course, I would love to take another year or two off from the constant blood lust and teenage angst, but I agree with Esme, it's better to be prepared."

"Now that Jake and Nessie are with us, we're pretty fuzzy in the future," Alice said with a sigh. "But I'm pretty sure we'll be moving in two and a half years during the summer of 2009. I want to be in the same grade as Jasper this time, and please make sure there's decent shopping within 250 miles."

I had to crack a grin at that. _ Looks like the pixie is being picky. As long as she has her shopping, she's fairly normal. Otherwise, she gets pretty scary. She can't get to her happy place without shopping._

Edward spoke next, "I'm concerned about Bella and Nessie. I would like them to spend as much time with Charlie as possible, and we don't want to miss any of Nessie's short childhood. I'd like to remain close to Forks for their benefit. Your thoughts, love?"

"I agree with Edward, but staying together is the most important factor for stability. If we need to move far away, then we will simply have to find ways to see Charlie as often as possible. Regardless of where we end up, I will not be attending school until Renesmee is also attending school. I'll be as reclusive as necessary, but I will _not _budge on this issue," Bella stated emphatically.

Edward then said, "I also won't be attending school until Nessie can."

Carlisle then took back the floor. "Alright, we all agree that we need to be prepared for a move when the time comes. Alice has put in the shopping stipulation, Emmett wants bear on the menu, Bella and Edward require a more reclusive location in order to stay home with Nessie, and Jacob will need housing for himself and any pack mates who join us. The consensus seems to be that we will need to put some distance between us and Forks. I'm sorry, Bella and Jacob, that your families will be so far from us, but we will provide regular plane fare for both of your fathers to visit and vice versa. Esme, please look into various options meet these requirements. Thank you all for your input."

Edward then took Nessie outside. "Nessie, let's go play outside by the river for a few minutes."

Carlisle waited until they were out of Nessie's ear shot and started again, "Yesterday, Edward told the story of what went through the Volturi minds during the encounter and what turned the tides in our favor, so there is no need to review that. However, I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about Bella's plan for Nessie and any concerns or comments any of you may have." He then opened the bag Nessie held yesterday and dumped its contents on the table. "Bella, thank you so much for having the foresight to make arrangements. Please understand that I want to go through this bag so we can provide you feedback; so that, if we are ever in another situation like this there will be no question as to what the plan is. Bella, please go through the bag and explain each item to the family. We have more experience changing identities and running, so consider this a teaching exercise. We'll let you explain everything first and then provide feedback."

Bella took the contents of the bag and began explaining the items. "Shirt and shoes for Jake since he only keeps cutoffs on him when he phased and $200,000 cash to provide for Nessie and Jake for at least a few years."

_My eyes were popping out of my head. Where did Bella get that kind of cash without anyone knowing?_

"Passports under Jacob and Vanessa Wolfe; I figured Jake could pretend to be Nessie's step-father." she picked up a couple of envelopes. "These are letters to Jake and Nessie explaining what happened and a single sheet of paper with the destination where I hoped Alice could find you."

The table was silent for a few moments. "Bella this is all excellent," Jasper interjected, "but I have a few recommendations for the future, some of which I plan to personally take care of very soon. First, I'd like you and Jacob to memorize some of our Swiss and Cayman account numbers so that if there's ever an emergency you have access to funds for several hundred years. I will provide you each with ten account numbers to memorize; these funds can be accessed from almost anywhere in the world. Also I'd like you both to have information on all of our various homes; I will provide you with key codes and addresses for each home. We are also going to set up some credit cards which are automatically paid from attached accounts. We all have at least six aliases with matching ID, credit lines, and bank accounts. I meant to make sure the two of you and Nessie all had your aliases set up, but unfortunately Alice's vision came so suddenly I never got to it. I apologize. Jacob, when you know who in your pack will be joining us, please let me know so I can establish identities for them as well."

My mind was reeling from the information Jasper had just given us, and he hadn't even give us anything to memorize yet. I knew the Cullens were rich, but this was downright shocking.

Jasper continued, "If you ever have to run, make sure you take all of your identification with you. It's easier to change identities if you already have the papers than if you have to purchase a new identity. Also, Bella, I'm sure you took that money from our room since your smell was still in the closet yesterday. When packing cash, pack as much as will fit in the bag; you could have packed another $100,000. Never worry about taking money in this house. We have more than we will ever need,and if Nessie had to run then she should have every dime available to her. You did an excellent job. I just want you to know where this family stands on these matters. I'll have your aliases established within two weeks; please let me know if you have any preferences on names."

I then felt I needed to say something. "Uh...I'm not comfortable having unlimited access to your family's cash and credit." I personally couldn't care less how much money they had, but I'd been raised to believe you worked for what you had, and the idea of just taking hand outs from the Cullens didn't sit well with me.

"Jacob, please do not misunderstand. Our intent is not to simply give you money and tell you to use it. This access is for emergencies. If you opt to use it as you wish, we are perfectly content with that. However, if things had gone poorly yesterday, then you would have been the sole provider for Nessie. She should have access all of the Cullen resources. We all choose how to spend our funds. The accounts Jasper is speaking of are family accounts, which exist for emergencies only. We also have individual accounts, which hold a great deal of wealth," Carlisle explained.

I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, and I think Bella may have sensed my anxiety because she then broke in, "Jake, I understand how you feel, but will you at least learn these account numbers for Nessie's sake?"

I nodded.

"Carlisle," Jasper began, "I'm concerned about Nessie's emotional state after yesterday. I'm worried that since she's so young, she may have unresolved issues from yesterday. I'd like everyone to keep a close eye on her, and please inform me or Carlisle if you notice anything strange. I'll be monitoring her closely for the next several weeks when she is in the house."

Carlisle then asked, "Does anyone else have anything to add?"

Everyone shook their heads.

A few seconds later, Edward and Nessie came through the back door and he said, "I think you all covered everything perfectly. Thank you all for everything."

He then handed Nessie to Alice, who darted upstairs with her while giggling and saying, "Well, you definitely have better taste than your mother." I knew it would be hours before I could see Ness again, but she needed to spend time with the pixie, and I needed to speak with both the packs.

I headed upstairs to say a quick bye to Nessie and headed off to La Push to talk with the packs and convey the Cullens' ideas.

~*O*~

I returned at dinner time with the news that some of the boys, Embry, Quil, and Seth, would take the Cullens' offer of assistance with home schooling so they could catch up to their ideal grades. The other wolves had either already completed school or hadn't missed enough to make it an issue. Collin and Brady phased at the beginning of summer, so they didn't miss any school because of it, and Sam was taking it easy on all the younger boys with night patrols. The six new wolves phased just before Christmas break, so they didn't miss much school either and were able to get caught up. My choice on education was for some tutoring to help me get my GED, since I couldn't see giving up time with Nessie to go back to high school; she just changed too fast.

The money concept was not taken well by the majority of the wolves. However, Paul and Jared were thinking of starting a garage, so they would appreciate a cosigner on a bank loan, but nothing more than that. Some of the others said they were interested in asking Alice for investment advice, but would need to earn some money first, so I let Alice know that eventually she would get a few phone calls.

I made plans to take Nessie to La Push the next day so she could meet Billy, Rachel, and Claire. Nessie asked me to carry her home and read with her before she went to sleep. I slept in wolf form outside her window, just because I needed to be near her. The next morning would be Nessie's first visit to La Push.

~*O*~

Luckily, everyone we were visiting already knew that Nessie was supernatural, so I didn't need to worry about her following the rules Bella had instituted for Charlie. She could talk, project, and be herself without any danger.

We went to my house first so she could meet Billy.

My dad was immediately smitten, and he took her right into his arms to talk. "Well hello, little Nessie, I'm Billy, Jacob's dad."

"Why do you have long hair? The only person I've met with hair as long as yours is Zafrina. Do you want to see her?"

"Sure, and I have long hair because it's a cultural tradition. The boys all used to have long hair, but it gets too messy when they run in wolf form. So, they all cut it."

She looked from me to my father and ran her hand through his hair. "Really, even my Jacob?"

He chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, even _my _Jacob. I'll tell you what we can do – you show me what this friend Zer..." he stumbled over the name.

"Zafrina," I offered.

"Yes, you show me this Zafrina person, and I'll show you pictures of Jacob growing up."

"You can show pictures too?" she asked wide-eyed, having never seen a photo album. She thought he had a power like her and Zafrina.

"No, Nessie, he doesn't have a power like you; he has pictures like you see on the walls or in books," I interrupted.

"No, I don't have a power, but I can do magic." His eyes twinkled, and I knew he was about to pull something 'out of her ear.'

"Really, like what?" she asked doubtfully.

"Do you like candy?" he answered with another question.

"What's candy?"

"Jacob's never given you candy? What a tragedy," he mocked me.

"Dad, she doesn't eat food," I defended.

"Oh, what's that?" he asked as he drew a piece of candy from behind her ear.

"I don't know," she answered, obviously surprised since she didn't feel anything behind her ear.

"This is candy... and it's yummy. You should try it. Don't chew it, just lick and suck on it," he said.

"Okay." She took the hard candy and tasted it. Then she held her hand up for me to come over. I knelt on the floor in front of her and Billy so she could ask what she wanted.

_What's this?_ she asked while projecting flavors of sweet and citrus.

"It's sweet and sour. That's a lemon drop," I answered, wondering why my father would pick a confusing candy like lemon to be her first.

"I like this lemon drop."

Billy chuckled, clearly amused with himself. "Do you want more, little Nessie?"

I just stood up and went to the kitchen to find more candy – I knew this would be a long exploration into a new taste experience.

"So what's your favorite blood, Nessie?" I heard my father ask. _He just has to point out the differences._

"I like human blood, but I'm not allowed to have it. Grandpa says it's too limited for him to bring it home as a snack for me. Animal blood is fine; it fulfills my hunger, but tastes kind of boring. My favorite is Jacob's, but Grandma told me it was rude to bite, and that I could only take little mouthfuls since he needs his blood more than I do. So I just stick to animals."

_Well that was new information: Esme was the reason she stopped biting._

"You're grandparents are right. Do you know what humans use human blood for?"

_God, he thought a four month old needed a lesson in morals._

"No," she answered honestly.

"Dad..." I said from the kitchen, trying to get him to tone down the morality lesson. I finally found his stash of regular candy and the sugar free stuff, which he was supposed to eat. I walked into the living room with a bowl of each.

"Well, humans use it to save lives. Doctors, like your grandpa, use it to fix people, which is why they don't let you have it as a snack. People donate it intending to save lives. As far as what your grandma told you, she's right too, but she's right because Jake would never tell you he needed it, and you wouldn't want to accidentally hurt him by taking too much."

"No, I'd never want to hurt my Jacob, he's too important to me to hurt him."

I rolled my eyes and let out a little growl. I really didn't want him giving her nightmares or worrying her. "Don't worry about me, Nessie. I can take care of myself, and you don't have a very big belly anyway."

She turned to me with a look of complete seriousness and said, "No, Jacob, I get to worry about you. I'll never bite you again. You're not food; you're my Jacob."

I decided to drop it and change the subject. "Dad, please tell me you haven't been sneaking regular candy when you have a whole supply of sugar free. You have a nice horde in the kitchen, and I want to make sure you're being health conscious."

He had a guilty look. "The regular candy is for the kids."

"What kids, Dad? Nessie's the first kid to be here in ages. Seth's the youngest person who comes here regularly and he's 16 now, so try again."

"Charlie likes it."

I burst out laughing, that was bullshit and we both knew it. Charlie hated sweet things, and even took his coffee without sugar.

"Charlie, as in Grandpa Charlie?" Nessie asked.

"One in the same, Ness," I answered then said, "I'm confiscating the regular candy, Dad, and I'm telling Rach not to let you buy anymore."

"Jake, I thought you'd want me to keep some on hand for Nessie?" he pleaded.

"Your choice; we both know you have your vices. I'm not going to let your sugar levels get too high. You can keep the vitamin R in the fridge or the regular candy. I'll bring some candy with me when Nessie visits."

"You can take it, but where are you going to hide it, Jake? You live here. I know you don't spend a lot of time here, but this is your home."

I'd bring it to the Cullens'; it's not like anyone there would eat it. "Don't worry about that, Dad. I thought you two had pictures to share?"

"Oh right," Nessie said as she put her hand up to my father's face.

He shivered a bit – Zafrina was a little creepy looking and Nessie's power was a shock to everyone she showed. "Wow, that's some trick, kiddo. Let's get some photo albums out so I can show you my boy when he was smaller than you."

The two of them spent a few hours scanning through photo albums and eating candy. I brought her to meet the wolf girls next at Emily's, and they fell just as in love with her as everyone else had.


	3. Jake's Birthday

**AN: I've been more inspired to write on this story than my other story so for those of you waiting on Toe to Toe it may be a few more weeks.**

**Special thanks to PTB betas CapriciousC and AnthroBug you were both extremely helpful. Also a huge thank you to Pemberly Rose my lovely prereader and to Twilight Cakes for the banner.**

**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight.**

_Someday I'll wish upon a star_

_And wake up where the clouds are far_

_Behind me._

_Where troubles melt like lemon drops_

_Away above the chimney tops_

_That's where you'll find me._

_Somewhere Over the Rainbow, _Judy Garland, Wizard of Oz

Jake's Birthday

Bella POV

Edward had let the family know that Jake's birthday was fast approaching and Renesmee wanted to do something special for him; so we decided to throw a surprise party. I called Sam to let him know, but we decided not to tell anyone in Jake's pack because they couldn't hide their thoughts from Jacob. Esme and I cooked lasagnas for the humans and the wolves while Edward and Renesmee made several different types of cake.

She was so independent it made me sad sometimes. She was growing up so fast that it was hard to give her all the experiences a normal child might have. She looked through the recipe book, and was so enamored with the beautiful cakes, that she decided to make four. Of course, my husband, bless his heart, couldn't say no to our little girl. She told us all about the candy Billy had given her and how much she enjoyed lemon drops; therefore she picked a lemon crème cake. The other three cakes she chose because of their pictures. They were Italian cream cake, red velvet cake, and baked Alaska. I was very concerned about the baked Alaska, but Edward promised she wouldn't be allowed near the confection while they were using the mini blow torch on it.

I was stunned when Edward asked if she wanted to lick the spoon for the cream cheese icing and she actually enjoyed it. Perhaps getting her to eat human food would just require more sweet things at the start. Carlisle loved the idea and decided that we should begin introducing fruits to supplement her diet.

Renesmee was also working on a special gift for Jacob with Esme's help, but neither would reveal their plans.

Billy and Sam managed to keep Jake busy for a few days before the party. He only had time to visit Renesmee for about an hour a day at the cottage and both were beginning to show signs of crankiness. We explained to Renesmee that if we wanted the party to be a surprise, we needed to keep Jake away while we prepared. We had the food prepared, the house decorated, and the guests, with the exception of Jake's pack, invited. Alice laid out several outfits on the porch. Sam assigned some of the younger wolves to patrol during the party. After everyone arrived, he phased to tell Jake that we had a situation and he needed to get his pack over here ASAP.

Jacob POV

We arrived at the Cullens' place and Edward was waiting outside. He told us all to get dressed since there were humans in the house.

_What? Sam told me there was an emergency. Please tell me no one bit a human. _My thoughts were laced with panic while I pulled on the clothes he gave me.

"No, nothing like that. We just needed to talk to you and Sam about the people who are in the house," he answered with a calm smirk.

_Who's here? _I asked, while slipping on the really expensive shoes that were with the clothes.

"You'll see," he said cryptically.

When we were all over-dressed, we walked into the house to a chorus of, "Surprise!"

I saw a "Happy Birthday, Jacob!" banner hanging from the ceiling.

_Was I really that out of it that I didn't realize today was my birthday? _I'd been busy doing errands for Billy and running patrols for Sam since all the wolves in school had exams the next week and we wanted to give them extra time to study. So all the patrols were being run by Leah, Paul, Jared, Sam, and me; however, only Leah and I were unemployed, so we were taking most of the burden.

I smiled at the little bronze-haired angel who had obviously orchestrated this. I noticed all the imprints, most of the wolves, Charlie, Sue, Billy, old Quil, and all the Cullens were there. I noticed that the four wolves who were missing were the four newest, all of them were twelve and thirteen. I was a bit worried about them running patrol with no supervision; they were only kids.

Edward quietly answered my thoughts, "Sam has Drew sitting in the woods just outside the house and I'm monitoring the patrol while Nathan, David, and Josh run."

I relaxed and let myself enjoy the party, knowing Edward would let Sam and I know if anything went wrong. I was surprised all the wolves were okay with eating the food made by vamps, but I guess we'd gotten past our old issues.

Nessie was so proud of the cakes she made. She wanted me to taste all of them before I ate the lasagna, but luckily Edward stepped in to explain that they came last and that we needed to put candles on one first. The party was a lot of fun and it was nice to see the Cullens and my friends getting along so well.

After most of the guests left, Billy gave me a full set of woodworking tools. Then the Cullens began giving me their overly extravagant gifts and I couldn't say no to anything because I'd make Nessie feel bad since she worked so hard planning the party.

Edward and Bella went first. Edward handed me an envelope and said, "This is as much for my peace of mind as it is for you."

I raised my eyebrow, confused, as I opened the envelope. There was a letter inside and some other papers.

_Jacob,_

_As shocked as we all were when you imprinted on Renesmee, we now know we couldn't ask for a better protector and friend to our little girl. You are a member of this family now and with that comes certain privileges. One of those privileges is the opportunity to attend any college, regardless of the cost – when you are ready to go to college, we will happily cover the cost. Additionally, I am giving you access to an account we set up for you. We know you will be reluctant to take funds from us, but this is an interest only account. We have a trust set up for Renesmee and this account takes a very small percentage of the interest earned on that account and deposits it into your account on a monthly basis. Please take this as a gift of the heart. We care about you._

_Edward & Bella_

The other documents were the legal papers attached to the account he had just given me. I had no idea how much money was in it, and I think Edward wanted to save that conversation for another day, so I simply thanked him sincerely and moved on to the rest of the presents.

The next gift was a full designer wardrobe from Alice. Emmett gave me a brand new high-tech phone with all the bells and whistles, while Rosalie gave me luggage.

"Ready to get rid of me so quickly, Blondie?" I quipped.

"You'll see, dog. Move on to Jasper's present," she answered.

I did as she said and opened a long box with a blue snowboard, a jacket, and boots.

"Awesome, but I've never been snowboarding before."

"Don't worry, we'll teach you – the others prefer skiing, but Emmett and I like doing tricks on boards," Jasper said.

Esme hurried over with a smile on her face and handed me a thin box. "This is from Carlisle and I."

I opened the tiny box and saw an airline ticket for Jacob Wolfe, dated February 1, 2007, to a location I couldn't pronounce in Sweden.

"We're going to Riksgränsen, Sweden next month for two weeks for a ski trip and we'd like you to join us. You can bring anyone in the pack you would like as long as they can make up any school they miss. Jasper already has passports for everyone in your pack," Esme explained.

My jaw dropped. When Jasper said they'd teach me to board, I'd assumed he was talking about doing that locally.

Seeing that I hadn't reacted the way she expected, Esme continued, "We prefer Riksgränsen, for a couple reasons – mostly that it's in the Arctic Circle so we will be visiting during perpetual twilight and night and we won't have to worry about the sun. Also, we all need to relax and we thought it would be fun to visit Scandinavia. The ski resort doesn't actually open until the week after we leave, but we have arranged for accommodations and activities. There's plenty of snow when we'll visit, but not enough sun to make it worth the resort's time to open up for the public and turn on the lights, but we don't need much light with our eyesight."

I hugged her since I still hadn't come up with words and she always felt like a mom to me.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"You're very welcome, Jacob," Esme responded softly.

"Jacob, just so you're aware, we were serious. Bring any members of your pack you like, just let us know soon so we can arrange tickets, accommodations, and sporting equipment for them," Edward told me.

"Thank you all. I obviously need to ask them to find out if they're interested and available."

Then it was time to open Nessie's gift. I tore the paper off the small rectangular box and opened it to see a homemade picture frame covered in tiny heart-shaped rocks. In the frame was a picture of Nessie and me from the previous week. Esme had taken it. I was really touched she had made this for me and it meant more to me than any of the other presents.

"Did you make this?"

"Grandma helped with the glue gun. Apparently, I'm not allowed to use anything hot. Daddy wouldn't let me use the little blowtorch for your cake either."

I said a quick thank you in my head to Edward, then asked Nessie, "Where did you get the rocks?"

"I found them in the woods when I've been out hunting and going to and from our house."

"Thank you so much, I absolutely love it Nessie." I gave her a big hug.

After thanking everyone and bringing Billy home, I headed out to talk to my pack in human form and ask them if they wanted to join us in Sweden. I was surprised that Leah wanted to come; she was usually a bit standoffish with the vamps. Embry and Seth wanted to come, but they had to check with their moms and make sure they could make up the school work. Quil wasn't interested in being away from Claire for two weeks. I understood; on the plus side for him, he'd get two weeks off from patrolling since no one would be able to link with him in the pack mind and Sam didn't want to put Quil at risk like that. Sam's pack was giving me a gift of running extra patrols while we were gone; apparently, he and Carlisle had done some negotiating for my birthday.

Edward POV

Carlisle and I had spoken extensively about our lifestyle and introducing Jacob to it. He was a proud young man and I knew he wasn't happy about me just handing him an account and a scholarship to college, but he was also kind enough not to refuse it with his father and my family there. Bella was pretty upset with me when I told her after Jake's birthday party what _we_ had given him. She understood his perspective on the gifts and didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Love, you are now a Cullen and he may not be one of us by name yet, but he is a member of this family for better or worse," I explained gently. "You and he seem to think the better parts are the worst parts. I need to work on acclimating him to being a member of this family and that includes financial considerations. You, my dear, made your choice when you married me to accept the fact that you are now a wealthy woman. We've never really discussed just how extensive our wealth is, but if you and I don't slowly acclimate Jacob, then one day Carlisle and Esme will present him with a trust and he'll be really angry at them. He needs to understand it's not pity money, it's just how we live and we choose not to concern ourselves with acquiring money when we already have plenty."

Bella sighed. "Edward, I just worry that these huge gifts will make him feel inadequate."

"Love, though this may seem extravagant to you or Jacob, it isn't to us Cullens. Since we have plenty of money, we don't mind giving each other nice gifts. I gave Alice a Porsche less than a year ago and that wasn't a huge gift. Carlisle bought Esme an island, which is what we would consider a huge gift, and even that didn't make a dent in his net worth. Anything under a hundred grand is basically pocket change to us and, no, when I said we gave Jake pocket change we didn't give him that much. His account will accumulate two to three thousand a month depending on the current market rates in the mutual funds I set aside for Renesmee in her mini trust."

"Mini trust?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I knew giving him a portion of the interest from her real trust funds would be too much right now, so I set up a mini trust that I would have put in Jacob's name, but I was worried that would upset him too. This seemed like the best way to deal with the issues I knew Jacob would have while slowly habituating him to having some access to money."

"Why are you so insistent that he take our money?"

"Bella, love, do you want Jake to go find a job that will take him away from Renesmee and his studies? If we can't convince him to take some money from us, he'll have to do that to support his father. I just want her to be happy and him being around keeps her happy and safe. Besides, how do you think Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice all became wealthy? I had a substantial inheritance after my parents passed away and Carlisle had money from his years of living as a doctor with no dependents. Also, the Volturi gave him some money when he was with them. Carlisle and I were exceptionally good at investing in our own rights, but when Alice joined us she had the ability to multiply our funds. Carlisle has given us all a certain amount of money to live our lives and with Alice's help we all grew what we started with. Everyone, other than Carlisle and myself, walked into this family without personal wealth. Jasper and Alice were nomads, her fashion tastes were sated through theft before Carlisle provided her with money to play with. Jasper was always fairly low maintenance. Rosalie was just the opposite – she walked into our family as a social climber and she has always been high maintenance. Emmett was a poor coal miner in Appalachia before he went hunting that day and almost died. Esme was a battered wife and a school teacher. We may have had an easier time transitioning to the financial implications of becoming Cullens because we had no ties to maintain with our previous families. You and Jake will have to adjust while also being the children of middle class parents. I'm sorry, but that is the reality of your lives."

"I'll do my best, but shouldn't you explain all this to Jake rather than ambushing him with large gifts?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, she still didn't understand that these weren't large gifts. "Bella, there are some things that are just tradition in this family and you and Jacob will have to adjust to them. For example, no one other than me purchases cars in this family. I buy all the vehicles as gifts. Esme buys or builds the homes. We will never go house hunting because it would take away something that Esme enjoys doing for us. Alice purchases the clothing. Do you really want to take away their joy by telling them they can't do those things for you or Jake? I promise I'll talk to Jake about all this when he's ready, but not before. Until then, Carlisle and I will keep slipping in small gifts here and there to get him used to the idea of having money."

"Small," she huffed sarcastically.

"Money and education are two of the advantages of being part of this family. He needs to get used to it."

Bella obviously didn't want to talk about money anymore and changed the subject. "Speaking of education, when are we going to begin teaching Renesmee? She wants to learn."

"Soon, I need to confirm subjects with each family member then I'll unveil the plan tomorrow, if you approve of it, love."

Bella POV

Edward laid out an incredibly rigorous curriculum for Renesmee and I was concerned it would be too much pressure, but he reminded me that we needed to allow her to set the pace and she wasn't a normal child. I'll admit it seemed extremely ambitious to me, but Edward assured me that she would be better off with a challenging education and promised that no one would put pressure on her. I understood after he explained that and realized that my concerns were the result of thinking of her as a normal child. She was extremely excited to be able to learn the material. She helped Edward choose which subjects she would learn when and who her teachers would be for each subject.

The entire family had a role in her education. Esme and I were assigned Literature and English, Edward and Carlisle took on Natural Sciences, while Jasper and Rosalie would handle the Social Sciences. The history of both humans and vampires was assigned to the two family members who had experienced the most, Jasper and Carlisle. Emmett and Alice were teaching math since they handled most of the money for the family.

There were other subjects she wanted to learn as well: music and language. Then we added some mandatory subjects, including power control and expansion, self defense, and how to behave like a human. Edward and Rose worked with her on her music with three tiny instruments that were just right for her tiny form: a piccolo flute, a quarter violin, and a miniature piano. The first time she picked up her piccolo with Jake in the house, I thought he would die; she had no control over her pitch so the notes were all sharp and Jake had to leave because of the headache he was getting. He loved her, but he was a wolf and high pitched sounds had quite an effect. It was made worse when Emmett purchased everyone dog whistles so we could all greet Jake appropriately.

She decided she wanted to learn as many languages as she could. Edward created a plan where she could master a language by immersion in about six months. Renesmee preferred not to speak, but understood that to learn languages she had to speak them. She was assigned to two family members for each language. During this intense immersion, when she wasn't in formal lessons she was instructed only to speak in the designated language to each person. The languages she declared she would learn were Mandarin, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, German, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Quileute. Edward decided she should tackle Latin and the Romance languages first, then Greek, Quileute, and German, and last Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic, and Russian since he thought she would need additional time for those last four languages since they were some of the world's most difficult languages. Edward was instructing her in all languages except Quileute.

The entire family would be responsible for teaching her right from wrong and how to behave like a human. Jake was responsible for ensuring she was exposed to social situations with humans when visiting with the pack families.

Jacob POV

Nessie and I were heavily engaged in our school work with the Cullens. I was basically covering any subjects that would come up on a GED test or the SAT and ACT tests while her education was a bit more rigorous. I was excited for the trip and Seth and Embry had made arrangements to join us so with Leah we would have three of my pack with us for our ski trip.

The day of our trip had arrived and Carlisle had rented a minibus to get the thirteen of us and our luggage to the airport. It was a twenty-one hour flight with two layovers. None of my pack had ever been on a plane before, so we were all lucky that Jasper was with us to keep us calm. Everyone was concerned about Bella and Nessie being around so many humans in an enclosed space, but we had wolves to dull the scent and Jasper to keep them calm. Before leaving, Edward made sure both Bella and Nessie hunted until they were full. Additionally, Carlisle had somehow managed to get a medical pass to carry packets of blood on the plane in case they were needed. He could give the girls a packet to drink in the bathroom if they needed it. It was our hope that neither would need it. No one wanted Bella to try human blood – she had resisted this long – but she had never tasted it since becoming a vampire. Our party of thirteen took up most of the first class cabin on all three flights, so there wasn't much worry about the closeness of other humans. The vamps each got meals and then discreetly gave them to us when the flight attendants weren't paying attention.

Nessie was very shy on the flights. She sat beside me for most of the trip, occasionally swapping seats with one of her parents to cuddle or talk with them. The flight attendants were totally enchanted by her and offered her coloring books and extra cookies. She happily took both, but didn't really see the amusement in the coloring books. She thought she could draw better pictures without the black outlines.

Suddenly I heard Alice gasp. "Stop breathing!" she said just loud enough for us. "Jake, get a grip on Nessie!"

I held my girl close and then a few seconds later I knew what had happened. I smelled blood and then Nessie started struggling to get away from me. I saw that Edward had a firm grip on Bella. Our flight attendant had cut herself on something in the galley. Emmett swapped seats with Alice to keep a grip on Jasper.

I realized that the vamps were okay since they didn't need to breathe, but Nessie was really struggling. I took one of the blankets and covered her up with it and then whispered firmly, "If you need to bite, you bite me. Okay, Nessie?"

She put her palm to my face. _No, Jacob, I promised you and your dad that I wouldn't bite you anymore. _

"I don't care," I told her firmly. "If you need to, you go ahead and bite me or tell your grandpa to take you to the bathroom and give you a packet of blood, okay?"

_I'd like Grandpa to bring me to the bathroom, please, _she begged through her gift.

"Doc, Nessie needs you to take her to the bathroom," I told him.

He was there a few seconds later bringing Nessie to the restroom and, shortly thereafter, he returned her to me and she seemed much more in control. He checked on Jasper and Bella and then he went to help the flight attendant, so her wound wouldn't tempt any other family members. I got Nessie to take a nap a while later and she slept until we touched down in Newark for our first layover. We found a mostly empty corner in the airport where we could talk about what happened on the first flight.

"What happened exactly?" I asked Edward and Alice.

"The flight attendant broke a wine glass and cut herself on it. Everyone did extremely well," Edward answered.

We talked for a while longer and I was worried about how the next flight would go, but Edward assured me that everything would be fine. I had to accept his word. What could be worse than a flight attendant bleeding in a cabin full of vampires?

The second and third legs of our flight were much better and my pack and I even slept for a while.

It was dark when we arrived even though it was mid-morning. Edward rented four SUVs and signed us all up as drivers on all the cars. The lady behind the counter told us about fifteen times that the cars ran only on diesel and that we'd be responsible if we accidentally filled up with regular gas. As we walked out of the airport, I expected it to be colder since the pilot had said the temperature was negative twenty. Edward told me the pilot was using Celsius and it was really only negative four Fahrenheit.

We went to the resort and got checked in. They got five luxury condos for us, one for each family unit and one for my pack. Our condo had a fully stocked kitchen, four bedrooms, a fireplace, and a hot tub. We unpacked, got cleaned up, and then met everyone at Carlisle and Esme's condo.

Carlisle explained the arrangements they had made, "We are free to use any of the facilities here at any time, but the staff just want a couple hours notice to make sure things are up and running. So, if you want to use the pool or one of the lifts just call guest services and the staff will get everything set up and then leave us alone. I've paid for privacy, so they are aware we don't want anyone around when we are using the resort. However, humans are a bit curious, so if you want to drop the pretense and use your full speed, strength, or agility be sure to check with Edward first to make sure there are no observers. Jasper's in charge of all the sports equipment."

Jasper took over, "I've made sure we have snowboards and skis to fit everybody. I want everyone who's new to this to try both so you can decide which you prefer. We also have some very fast snowmobiles and sleds that I've rented to play with during the week. Today we'll do bunny slope lessons on skiing and snowboarding for the wolves, Bella, and Nessie so we'll each bring our boards and skis. Emmett and I are in charge of the boarding lessons, but first Rosalie and Alice will be doing the skiing lessons."

We got on our ski gear and headed out to the slopes. Rosalie and Alice explained proper posture, how to turn, how to stop, and how to ski in most terrain. Then we all gave it a try. Nessie, Bella, Leah, and I got the hang of it easily, but Seth and Embry were a bit competitive and wanted to see who could throw more snow on a stop. It was hilarious watching the two of them face plant.

"Seth, Embry!" Rosalie yelled. "Who told you to stop like that? We're starting with the basics."

Edward chuckled, "They were mimicking what they've seen in the Olympics."

Emmett and Jasper were laughing loudly and each of them pulled the stop Embry and Seth were trying and showered them with snow.

"Boys!" Esme chided her sons.

"Sorry," they both answered sheepishly while giving Seth and Embry a hand up.

Rosalie then explained again how they were to use a "V" stop until she taught them more advanced techniques. Alice taught us to ski with or without poles and Nessie asked why we bothered with poles when skiing without them was so easy. Alice explained that when we start doing moguls they'll be essential. Once we all got the hang of basic and intermediate skiing, Emmett and Jasper got to begin their lesson on snowboarding after we swapped equipment.

They explained that basic boarding was a matter of balance and the trick was to not be afraid of falling. We did fall a lot, but eventually we got the hang of it. Our learning curve was a bit behind Bella and Nessie; they seemed to easily learn, but they also probably listened better than we did. It was kind of weird to think that Bella had been the clumsiest girl I'd ever met and yet she was incredibly graceful as a vampire. Emmett and Jasper quickly moved on to showing us how to do tricks once we had mastered basic boarding. Nessie and Bella weren't interested in learning to do tricks. They preferred skiing, so Esme grabbed some sleds and brought the vampire girls to a different slope to do some sledding while we learned how to do tricks with Leah and the guys. We had a lot of fun, but eventually we decided the day was done.

Edward told us the next day we had a snowmobile trip planned and Esme would bring a picnic for the wolves. He said we needed to be ready at seven am. We headed back to our condo and spent some time hanging out in the hot tub and talking about our day. It was awesome to just relax with my pack and not worry about the day to day stresses of our lives.

In the morning Edward came and collected us and took our passports to hold in his waterproof case. He told us we may end up crossing borders and it was better to be prepared. Jasper handed me a weird harness thing and told me to put it on before I got on my sled. I saw Edward and Bella also had on the same harness, but no one else had one.

_What's this for?_ I asked in my thoughts.

"It's so Nessie can ride with any of the three of us that she prefers. She'll start with me, so you can get accustomed to the sled," Edward answered.

It was apparently as close as we could get to a seat belt for Ness. Each adult had their own sled and we all had a blast riding across the icy ground. We all raced around. Emmett and Jasper were ecstatic that Edward was carrying Ness because that meant he was going slower and being more careful,so they could actually win races.

We stopped at about noon, which was a dusky gray twilight. Esme got out the food she had packed for us. I was surprised when I saw steam rising off the food as she opened the cooler. Esme explained that she had packed the food with heating packs to keep it warm and that she thought we'd all enjoy a hot meal and drink. We enjoyed the casseroles, muffins, and hot chocolate while the vampires horsed around in the snow. Leah seemed to have finally gotten over her vampire issues and was even thankful for the food. She had explained during a patrol after my birthday that her previous issues were with her being overprotective of me and thinking Bella was using me callously. However, she understood better after I imprinted and she was working hard on being nice to all the Cullens.

Later, on our way back to the condos, we stopped to look at the Northern Lights. Nessie loved the colors dancing in the sky and I felt really blessed to have become a member of this family.

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